Friday, 30 August 2019

Things that make you feel good

Things that make me feel good...

1) sunshine
2) the sea - the sound, the sight, the smell
3) music
4) good friends
5) sublime sunsets

This past weekend I had all of that.... perfect weather for a festival. A festival by the sea. With some of my favourite people and also a hotel. Could not have asked for more. And I didn’t need the medical tent once. 

Monday, 19 August 2019

The Weekend

I've been back two weeks (and a bit) and it's really no secret that I've found it a little hard to adjust. This weekend kind of did that for me.
India was a mere 3 months... South Africa, only one month more seemed so much longer. Probably because I didn't really need to acclimatise. I just fitted in. Anyway, whatever, when I got back, it felt like everyone had new routines without me and work had changed so much, I wasn't quite sure where 'my place' was.

This is not a pity party blog..

So this weekend, I stayed out until the wee hours with my friends, I shopped and had delicious treats and had a braai/bbq with the family. A delightfully perfect weekend. And I got to bake cakes and meringues - didn't think I had missed that as much as I clearly have.

Yesterday was lovely. Dad is turning 80 tomorrow, so we decided to have a little gathering for him. Not a mega party like days of old - he's not been well so that couldn't be on the cards. Just a small gathering for a few hours in the sun with plenty boerewors and toasties. And wine....

And Friday night was lovely, because I got to laugh and drink gin with favourite friends and get home at 3am. I missed those crazy cats.

I found my space again. My house feels a bit more like home should. My new fridge is fab, my new cooker is crazy...

This weekend, I get to go to a festival - so I think normality has been kind of restored.

Friday, 16 August 2019

Restarting

Re-activating this blog...so now I have three. Considering my lack of interaction on a blog, it's probably two too many. BUT, the other two are about my travels so they can stay where they are. This one has always been about the inner workings of my headspace. I was going to say 'brain' but why exaggerate?

So I've been back in England for two weeks now and it's still very strange to me. What has amused me, is the little day to day things I've forgotten. Self service in the supermarkets, now that really confused me. It's crazy how quickly I adapted into South African living.

Do I wish I was back there? Yes and no. It was awesome. But...it didn't have ALL my people. I felt it was more 'real' that India was - cooking etc, in an apartment made all the difference. So yes, it felt like I was living there, not visiting. And truly, I treated it as such. Yes, I did a few touristy stuff but not to the extent that I did in India. I made it mirror my life here pretty much (bar the people).

South Africa, for all her issues, is by far the friendliest of nations. This I have struggled with. I got used to the shop assistants having a fat chat with me every day. It doesn't happen here. Not to that extent... clearly I'm generalising.

I've also come back to a few mega changes... how do I feel? Strangely calm. Which is bizarre in itself. But not unwelcome.

I said when I came back from India, that I felt I had changed - because if you go away for that amount of time, and are alone for that amount of time, you really should have a better understanding of yourself. I feel even more strongly about this after returning from SA. I think I have 'me' now. This is who I am, what I feel like, what I want from life, It's quite a heady feeling. Maybe I'm not 'there' yet, but I'm close.

Travel sick

 There we go, I forgot what this felt like.  See I don't do holidays - not really. I've done a few but it's not really what I do...